The role of computer simulation in predicting intrinsic diffusion effects is amplified with the shrinkage of MOS devices. In this work, post-implant damage distributions are obtained from atomistic Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Based on diffusion-limiting kinetics, the evolution of the damage at room temperature with time is studied. It is shown that evolution of the point defects follow the Ostwald ripening process, where larger defect clusters grow at the expense of smaller ones. A qualitative study of the effective plus factor is also conducted, taking into account various clustering and recombination processes. Clustering is found to significantly affect the remaining amount of damage, which in turn affects subsequent diffusion processes. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.