Laser-assisted fabrication of semiconductor structures and devices formed by utilizing a compliant substrate

Semiconductor structures are provided with high quality epitaxial layers of monocrystalline materials grown over monocrystalline substrates such as large silicon wafers utilizing a compliant substrate. One way to achieve the formation of a compliant substrate includes first growing an accommodating buffer layer on a silicon wafer. The accommodating buffer layer is lattice matched to both the underlying silicon wafer and an overlying monocrystalline material layer. With laser assisted fabrication, a laser energy source is used to preclean the accommodating buffer layer, to excite the accommodating buffer layer to higher energy to promote two-dimensional growth, and to amorphize the accommodating buffer layer, without requiring transport of the semiconductor structure from one environment to another. When chemical vapor deposition is utilized, the laser radiation source can also be employed to crack volatile chemical precursors and to enable selective deposition.