A thin layer of liquid phase epitaxial melt material (26) is formed on a wafer (15,16). The thin melt layer (26) is held in contact with the wafer (15,16) while the temperature of the thin melt layer (26) and the wafer (15,16) are reduced to crystallize a portion of the melt material thereby producing thin and accurately controlled epitaxial layers on the wafer (15,16).