In the process of fabricating a subsurface isolation layer in an integrated circuit wherein said isolation layer is spanned in selected regions by buried layers, the steps comprising:
- ion implanting a first conductivity type impurity into said selected regions of the surface of a semiconductor substrate of said first type impurity;
- ion implanting a second impurity of opposite conductivity type into the surface of said semiconductor substrate said first and second impurities having a higher diffusion coefficient than the substrate impurity and wherein the nature and amount of said first impurity are selected to produce a greater concentration in the semiconductor than said second impurity;
- growing a substantially intrinsic epitaxial layer of semiconductor over the surface of said semiconductor substrate;
- and
- processing said semiconductor substrate to diffuse said second impurity through said epitaxial layer to determine the conductivity type thereof and to diffuse said first impurity through said epitaxial layer to determine the conductivity thereof above said selected regions.