In this paper, we will describe a method using laser nonresonant multiphoton ionization to measure beam flux in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems. The results were obtained in a test chamber where a focused excimer laser beam was used to photoionize a small fraction of the atomic and molecular beams. The constituents of the beams were identified by a time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer. Ion signal strength was found to be directly correlated to the temperature of the atomic beam oven. Good stability and sensitivity on gallium, aluminum, and silicon atomic beams was demonstrated. Arsenic was also detected. We demonstrated very sensitive detection of contaminant atomic and molecular constituents of our system. We have also detected the presence of short‐term fluctuations in the gallium flux from an effusion source. These fluctuations, previously suspected, can be in excess of ±10%.