SIMOX (Separation-by-Implantation-of-Oxygen) is an established technique to fabricate silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures by oxygen ion implantation into silicon. The main problem of SIMOX is the very high oxygen ion fluence and the related defects. It is demonstrated that vacancy defects promote and localize the oxide growth. The crucial point is to control the distribution of vacancies. Oxygen implantation generates excess vacancies around RP/2 which act as trapping sites for oxide growth outside the region at the maximum concentration of oxygen at RP. The introduction of a narrow cavity layer by He implantation and subsequent annealing is shown to be a promising technique of defect engineering. The additional He implant does not initiate oxide growth in the top-Si layer of SOI.