This dissertation is focused on three problem areas in the performance of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source. The noise characteristics of aerosols produced by ICP nebulizers are investigated. A laser beam is scattered by aerosol and detected by a photomultiplier tube and the noise amplitude spectrum of the scattered radiation is measured by a spectrum analyzer. Discrete frequency noise in the aerosol generated by a Meinhard nebulizer or a direct injection nebulizer is primarily caused by pulsation in the liquid flow from the pump. A Scott-type spray chamber suppresses white noise, while a conical, straight-pass spray chamber enhances white noise, relative to the noise seen from the primary aerosol. Simultaneous correction for both spectral interferences and matrix effects in ICP atomic emission spectrometry (AES) can be accomplished by using the generalized standard additions method (GSAM). Results obtained with the application of the GSAM to the Perkin-Elmer Optima 3000 ICP atomic emission spectrometer are presented. The echelle-based polychromator with segmented-array charge-coupled device detectors enables the direct, visual examination of the overlapping lines Cd (1) 228.802 nm and As (1) 228.812 nm. The slit translation capability allows a large number of data points to be sampled, therefore, the advantage of noise averaging …