Abstract: A method of growing epitaxial semiconductor films on substrates is proposed which consists in that a substrate is cleaned from damage layers and heated to a critical epitaxy temperature simultaneously by irradiating a substrate surface with an intensive luminous flux. A source material for growing a film is introduced to the substrate in a gaseous state. When producing multi-layer semiconductor structures, a substrate surface opposite to a surface exposed to the luminous flux is cooled to a temperature sufficient to prevent mutual diffusion between the film and the substrate materials. Versions of an apparatus for carrying this method into effect are also proposed. The apparatus includes a quartz chamber with a vaporizer for vaporizing the source material for film growing, a means for supporting the substrate and openings for introducing a neutral or reducing agent. The apparatus is provided with furnaces for heating the walls of the chamber.