The growth of biaxially aligned layers, i.e. layers with both a preferential out-of-plane and an in-plane crystallographic orientation, on nonaligned metallic substrates is investigated. Unbalanced magnetron sputtering on an inclined substrate is used to deposit the layers. This method enables us to grow biaxially aligned layers for different classes of materials with different physical and chemical properties. The results for biaxially aligned MgO which is a cubic metal oxide (FCC rocksalt structure), and pure metallic chromium films (BCC) are presented. A comparison between biaxially aligned MgO and Cr concerning the microstructure and crystallographic texture is discussed. A correlation between the sputter deposition parameters on the biaxial alignment of both materials is observed. Both materials have a columnar V-shape structure with a faceted surface, corresponding to zone T of the well known structure zone model of Thornton. The MgO layers exhibit a [111] out-of-plane orientation, while Cr layers have an [100] preferential orientation. MgO as well as Cr show a strong in-plane alignment. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All tights reserved.