Two-photon-excited fluorescence spectroscopy of Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap

We report the results of two-photon-excited fluorescence (TPEF) measurements of the $5\mathrm{S}_{1/2} \rightarrow 5\mathrm{D}_{5/2}$ transition of $^{85}$Rb and $^{87}$Rb cooled in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We observe TPEF at excitation powers as low as 1 $μ$W or fluxes as low as $2.98_{-0.94}^{+1.37} \times 10^{18}\ \text{photons}\,\text{cm}^{-2}\,\text{s}^{-1}$ ($^{85}$Rb) and $3.31_{-1.33}^{+2.21} \times 10^{18}\ \text{photons}\,\text{cm}^{-2}\,\text{s}^{-1}$ ($^{87}$Rb). Our results demonstrate that optically cooled Rb is a promising platform for observing sensitive two-photon spectral signatures at low photon fluxes.