Plasmas are generated in a low ionization potential gas, tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene (TMAE) vapor through a one‐photon ionization process by an ultraviolet laser beam at a 193 nm wavelength. The TMAE plasma characteristics are studied by means of a Langmuir probe and microwave scattering. A new method is used to measure the 193 nm ultraviolet (UV) photon absorption cross section in TMAE. It is determined to be 1.1±0.3×10−17cm2from the axial profile of electron density. The temporal evolution of electron temperature is measured. A peak electron density ofne=5×1013/cm3and peak electron temperature ofTe=1 eV are measured at 500 mTorr TMAE pressure. The plasma decay process is studied, and the electron‐ion recombination coefficient is measured to be 5.4±0.5×10−6cm3/s. A theoretical model is derived to describe the photon flux and the one photon ionization process. An application of a TMAE plasma as a mirror for microwave reflections is proposed.