Samples are combusted and the gases produced are reduced to SO2, N2, CO2, H2O. They are then passed through a cell to measure the change in thermal conductivity as compared to a reference gas, allowing for quantification of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur.

The MICRO cube is capable of quantifying carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur. A fifth element may be quantified by difference. The instrument requires 0.03 mg of each element for detection. Therefore, for a two milligram sample, the detection limit is 1.5% by weight. The detection limit may be improved for certain samples by increasing the total sample weight: see “Sample Requirements” above.