A small CO2‐N2‐He laser excited by a pulsed microwave source at 2.45 GHz has been operated at low powers. Microwave power flux density was increased by using tapered sections to modify the aspect ratio. Pulsed microwave excitation of the gases resulted in laser output pulses characterized by time delays to threshold and long pulse lengths. The efficiency of conversion of microwave energy to laser energy was over 4&percent;.