Apparatus for producing semiconductor thin films on moving substrates

To provide a method and an apparatus for producing semiconductor thin films in which the semiconductor thin films are allowed to grow on a plurality of substrates by dipping the plurality of substrates into a solution filled in a crucible, the solution containing a semiconductor as a solute, while moving the same in the solution, and an angle between a direction of a normal line on a central portion of a growing surface of each substrate and the direction of the movement of the substrates is set to be in 87 degrees or less and the movement of the substrates generates a flow of the solution. Thereby, in mass production of large-area devices such as solar cells, at the time of conducting liquid phase growth of semiconductor layers by the use of the dipping process, the above method and apparatus make it possible to treat a plurality of substrates together while ensuring the uniform thickness of a film produced and improvement in film forming rate, which leads to improvement in mass productivity.