Abstract: Methods of fabricating a semiconductor film with reduced defects comprising lithographically defined nanoscale features patterned into an underlying layer. A semiconductor film is then nucleated within the plurality of nanoscale features. The nanoscale features are aligned with specific crystallographic axes to allow for controlled growth rates. A semiconductor film produced with a greater than four orders of magnitude decrease in the threading dislocation density and thus improved optical and electrical transport properties. The invention applies to wide bandgap semiconductor films, however, also applies to any film-substrate combination where significant lattice and thermal expansion misfit occurs.