Co-Zn-P nanowire arrays have been synthesized by electroless deposition in an anodic alumina membrane (AAM). The images of Co-Zn-P nanowire arrays and single nanowires are obtained by both scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectra (EDS) are employed to study the morphology and chemical composition of the nanowires. The results indicate that Co-Zn-P nanowire arrays are amorphous in structure. The hysteresis loops characterized by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) show that the easily magnetized direction of Co-Zn-P nanowire arrays is parallel to the nanowire arrays and that there exhibits clearly a magnetic anisotropy as a result (if the shape anisotropy. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.