Narrow-width effects are investigated in LOCOS and STI-isolated silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOSFETs. With width as a parameter, variations in threshold voltage, mobility, subthreshold swing and drain-induced barrier lowering are analyzed in relationship with the other transistor dimensions (i.e. channel length, and film thickness). For both isolation techniques, a strong dependence of the threshold voltage with the channel width as well as the SOI silicon film thickness are observed while narrow and short-channel effects are not found to be correlated. Following this, it is shown through saturation subthreshold swing, latch-up and breakdown voltage measurements, that the floating-body effects (FBEs) are reduced in narrow-channel devices. Specific experiments (current transients, source-body junction current...) and simulations were conducted to reveal the mechanisms responsible for the observed weakening of the FBEs. It is concluded that three main mechanisms coexist: (i) the local thinning of the film under the LOCOS isolation, (ii) a lower carrier lifetime near the channel edges and (iii) an increase of the source/body junction leakage near the edges which speeds up the removal of the carriers from the body. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.