An epitaxial rare earth oxide (110)/silicon (001) structure is realized by epitaxially growing a rare earth oxide such as cerium dioxide in the (110) orientation on a (001)-oriented silicon substrate at a growth temperature lower than conventional ones. For this purpose, the surface of the (001)-oriented Si substrate is processed into a dimer structure by 2×1, 1×2 surface reconstruction, and a rare earth oxide of a cubic system or a tetragonal system, such as CeO2 film, is epitaxially grown in the (110) orientation on the Si substrate in an atmosphere containing an oxidic gas by using a source material made up of at least one kind of rare earth element. During this growth, a source material containing at least one kind of rare earth element is supplied after the supply of an oxidic gas is supplied onto the surface of the Si substrate.