The GaAs-on-insulator (GOI) wafer fabrication technique has been developed by using ion-cut process, based on hydrogen ion implantation and wafer direct bonding techniques. The hydrogen ion implantation condition for the ion-cut process in GaAs and the associated implantation mechanism have been investigated in this paper. Depth distribution of hydrogen atoms and the corresponding lattice disorder in (100) GaAs wafers produced by 40 keV hydrogen ion implantation were studied by SIMS and RBS/channeling analysis, respectively. In addition, the formation of platelets in the as-implanted GaAs and their microscopic evolution with annealing in the damaged layer was also studied by cross-sectional TEM analysis. The influence of the ion fluence, the implantation temperature and subsequent annealing on blistering and/or flaking was studied, and the optimum conditions for achieving blistering/splitting only after post-implantation annealing were determined. It was found that the new optimum implant temperature window for the GaAs ion-cut lie in $120{sim}160^{circ}C$, which is markedly lower than the previously reported window probably due to the inaccuracy in temperature measurement in most of the other implanters.