18Ni-maraging steel has been entirely nanocrystallized by a series of processes including solution treatment, hot-rolling deformation, cold-drawn deformation and direct electric heating. The plasma nitriding of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel was carried out at 410 degrees C for 3 h and 6 h in a mixture gas of 20% N-2 + 80% H-2 with a pressure of 400 Pa. The surface phase constructions and nitrogen concentration profile in surface layer were analyzed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and the glow discharge spectrometry (GDS), respectively. The results show that an about 2 mu m thick compound layer (mono-phase gamma'-Fe4N) can be produced on the top of the surface layer of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel plasma nitrided at 410 degrees C for 6 h. The measured hardness value of the nitrided surface is 11.6 GPa. More importantly, the gamma'-Fe4N phase has better plasticity, i.e., its plastic deformation energy calculated from the load-displacement curve obtained by nano-indentation tester is close to that of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel. Additionally, the mechanical properties of gamma'-Fe4N phase were also characterized by first-principles calculations. The calculated results indicate that the hardness value and the ratio of bulk to shear modulus (B/G) of the gamma'-Fe4N phase are 10.15 GPa and 3.12 (>1.75), respectively. This demonstrates that the gamma'-Fe4N phase has higher hardness and better ductility. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.