Real time in situ stress measurements were performed during constant current electrochemical deposition of Co thin films on amorphous substrates. A three-stage compression-tension-compression-stress evolution was displayed during the growth similar to behavior that has been observed during growth of films produced by physical vapor deposition. The different stages of stress generation were correlated with morphological changes of the thin films that showed that deposition occurred by the Volmer-Weber island growth mode. Potential transients also displayed a strong correlation with the morphological changes. A bimodal island size distribution was generated that was associated with features in the stress and potential evolution. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.