Enhanced silicon-on-insulator transistors and methods are provided for implementing enhanced silicon-on-insulator transistors. The enhanced silicon-on-insulator (SOI) transistors include a thin buried oxide (BOX) layer under a device channel and a thick self-aligned buried oxide (BOX) region under SOI source/drain diffusions. A selective epitaxial growth is utilized in the source/drain regions to implement appropriate strain to enhance both PFET and NFET devices simultaneously.