High quality epitaxial layers of monocrystalline materials can be grown overlying large silicon wafers by first growing an accommodating buffer layer (104) on a silicon wafer (102). The accommodating buffer layer (104) is a layer of monocrystalline material spaced apart from the silicon wafer (102) by an amorphous interface layer (108) 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 thin film pyroelectric devices (150) on a monocrystalline silicon substrate.