Nitridation and oxidation of titanium and iron immersed in liquid N2, NH3, or H2O are achieved by pulsed excimer laser treatment. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry reveals that significant quantities of nitrogen and oxygen can be incorporated in the metal matrices over a depth scale of several thousand angstroms. X‐ray diffraction gives evidence for compound formation and scanning electron microscopy for large stress in the surface layer. The process is viewed as chemical reactive solute incorporation in the metal surface layer in its laser induced liquid state, followed by compound formation.