High quality epitaxial layers of monocrystalline materials can be grown overlying large silicon wafers by first growing an accommodating buffer layer (202) on a silicon substrate (200). The accommodating buffer layer (202) is a layer of monocrystalline material spaced apart from the silicon substrate (200) by an amorphous interface layer (204) of silicon oxide. The amorphous interface layer dissipates strain and permits the growth of a high quality monocrystalline accommodating buffer layer. Any lattice mismatch between the accommodating buffer layer and the underlying silicon substrate is taken care of by the amorphous interface layer. Utilizing this technique permits the fabrication of semiconductor structures formed by high quality Group III-V nitride films.