The present disclosure is directed to methods for the fabrication of buried layers in gate-all-around (GAA) transistor structures to suppress junction leakage. In some embodiments, the method includes forming a doped epitaxial layer on a substrate, forming a stack of alternating first and second nano-sheet layers on the epitaxial layer, and patterning the stack and the epitaxial layer to form a fin structure. The method includes forming a sacrificial gate structure on the fin structure, removing portions of the fin structure not covered by the sacrificial gate structure, and etching portions of the first nano-sheet layers. Additionally, the method includes forming spacer structures on the etched portions of the first nano-sheet layers and forming source/drain (S/D) epitaxial structures on the epitaxial layer abutting the second nano-sheet layers. The method further includes removing the sacrificial gate structure, removing the first nano-sheet layers, and forming a gate structure around the second nano-sheet layers.