TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The step of depositing the biaxially oriented intermediate layer over the polymeric substrate by ion beam assisted deposition involves depositing a nucleation layer on a surface of the polymeric substrate; and depositing the biaxially oriented intermediate layer on the nucleation layer by ion beam assisted deposition. The nucleation layer is deposited by electron beam evaporation. The step of epitaxially depositing the biaxially oriented buffer layer on the biaxially oriented intermediate layer comprises depositing the biaxially oriented intermediate layer on the biaxially oriented intermediate layer by reactive ion beam assisted deposition. The step of epitaxially depositing the biaxially oriented buffer layer on the biaxially oriented intermediate layer to form the flexible template comprises epitaxially depositing the buffer layer by one of sputtering, electron beam evaporation, metal-organic deposition, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, polymer assisted deposition, and laser ablation. Preferred Components: The oxide (o1) is yttrium oxide. The oxide (o2) is a binary metal oxide having a cubic crystal structure. The binary metal oxide has a face-centered cubic-based crystal structure; and is selected from magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, strontium oxide, barium oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, vanadium oxide, niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, chromium oxide, manganese oxide, iron oxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, cadmium oxide, scandium oxide, lanthanum oxide, cerium oxide, neodymium oxide, samarium oxide, europium oxide and/or ytterbium oxide (preferably magnesium oxide). The nitride has a face-centered cubic-based crystal structure; and is selected from strontium nitride, scandium nitride, yttrium nitride, titanium nitride, zirconium nitride, hafnium nitride, vanadium nitride, niobium nitride, tantalum nitride, chromium nitride, molybdenum nitride, tungsten nitride, lanthanum nitride, cerium nitride, praseodymium nitride, neodymium nitride, samarium nitride, europium nitride, gadolinium nitride, terbium nitride, dysprosium nitride, holmium nitride, erbium nitride, ytterbium nitride, lutetium nitride and/or thulium nitride (preferably titanium nitride).    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING - Preferred Template: The template further includes a nucleation layer disposed between the polymeric substrate and the intermediate layer. The nucleation layer has a thickness of 1-50 nm; and is an oxide (o1). The intermediate/buffer layer comprises at least one of an oxide (o2) and a nitride. The intermediate layer has a thickness of 2-50 nm. The buffer layer has a thickness of 50-500 nm; and is homoepitaxially deposited on the intermediate layer. The flexible template further comprises at least one active layer disposed over the biaxially oriented buffer layer.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: The flexible polymeric substrate comprises a polymer selected from polyimide, polyetheretherketone, polyethersulfone, nylon, fluoropolymer, polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate and/or polypropylene (preferably polyimide). EXAMPLE - Kapton (RTM: polymeric substrate) tape having a thickness of 2 mil was provided and cleaned with acetone, methanol, and isopropanol. A nucleation layer of yttria (Y2O3) was deposited on the Kapton tape at room temperature (i.e. the Kapton tape was not actively heated, nor did the temperature of the Kapton tape exceed room temperature) using electron beam evaporation. The nucleation layer was deposited at rate of 0.15 nm/s and had thickness of 9 nm. A 10 nm thick magnesium oxide (MgO) was then deposited at room temperature using ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) to achieve biaxial texture. During MgO deposition, the substrate was not actively heated and did not exceed room temperature. In the IBAD process an Ar+ beam (40 mA/750 V with Ar gas flow of 10 seem) was directed at the nucleation layer/Kapton tape substrate at 45degrees to normal. The IBAD MgO deposition took place at a rate of 0.2 nm/s. An MgO buffer layer having thicknesses of 50-100 nm was then homoepitaxially deposited on the MgO intermediate layer using electron-beam evaporation. The MgO buffer layer was deposited at a rate of 0.1 nm/s and at about 300degreesC under a pressure of 5x10-5 Torr of O2. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the MgO crystals in the intermediate and buffer layers grow with the orientation normal to the nucleation layer/Kapton tape substrate. Out-of-plane and in-plane mosaic spreads of the MgO biaxially oriented crystals were below 3degrees and 6degrees, respectively, which were indicative of a high degree of crystalline order in the deposited film.