High quality epitaxial layers of compound semiconductor materials can be grown overlying large silicon wafers by first growing an accommodating buffer layer on a silicon wafer. The accommodating buffer layer is a layer of monocrystalline oxide spaced apart from the silicon wafer by an amorphous interface layer of silicon oxide. The amorphous interface layer dissipates strain and permits the growth of a high quality monocrystalline oxide 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.