Abstract The Hall-effect/electrical conductivity measurements and mobility spectrum analysis (MSA) have been used for the study of the profiles of different electron species and corresponding defects induced in a HgCdTe film by implantation of arsenic ions. Two specific donor defects were revealed as a result of extracting parameters of different carrier species found with MSA. Identification of the defects was performed with the use of the data acquired with transmission electron microscopy and the literature data on Rutherford backscattering. It was found that low-mobility (∼5000 cm2/(V·s)) electrons originated from donor centers formed when mercury interstitials were captured by implantation-induced dislocation loops, while middle-mobility (∼20,000 cm2/(V·s)) electrons were due to donor centers formed when the interstitials were captured by quasi-point radiation defects. For comparison, profiling was also performed with the single-field differential Hall-effect measurements. The results of the study suggest that only MSA-assisted carrier profiling is capable of retrieving actual defect profiles in ion-implanted HgCdTe.