A vertical metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor with the novel feature of a dielectric pocket between the channel and source/drain has been fabricated and tested. These dielectric pocket vertical MOSFETs (DPV-MOSFETs) show an improved suppression of short-channel effects such as V-T roll-off and drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL). This is due to reduced charge sharing, thus allowing better threshold voltage control. The dielectric pocket also prevents dopant diffusion from the source/drains into the body during device fabrication, mitigating bulk punchthrough. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.