Patent ID: 7888244

Claim:
A method of forming a semiconductor layer comprising: forming an interface layer on a substrate comprising a substrate material; exposing the interface layer to a material comprising a semiconductor material to form a plurality of windows in the interface layer, wherein the plurality of windows expose portions of the substrate, and to form a plurality of seed pads on the portions of the substrate exposed by the plurality of windows; and forming a heteroepitaxial semiconductor layer comprising a heteroepitaxial semiconductor material different from the substrate material by lateral growth and coalescence of the seed pads such that the heteroepitaxial semiconductor layer is disposed over the interface layer, wherein each of the plurality of windows in the interface layer is about 2 nm to about 8 nm wide; and the heteroepitaxial semiconductor layer has a threading dislocation density of less than 1×10 8 cm −2 .