Represents direct investments by the entity. Recorded by equity and consolidated methods.

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Represents the duration an employee has worked for the entity.

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Amount of net income (loss) generated by joint ventures in which entity has investment.

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Total investments in (A) entities in which the entity has significant influence and control, (B) joint ventures that are consolidated, but (C) entities in which local management manage daily operations, (D) entities that not required additional investment of financial support from the parent entity.

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Represents the number of minority investment entities that are not consolidated and are accounted for under the equity method.

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No definition available.

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Represents information pertaining to minority investments in privately held companies through consolidated joint ventures.

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Represents amount of net income (loss) generated by consolidated joint ventures attributable to parent after allocating the share of minority interest.

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No definition available.

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Represents number of joint ventures in which entity has interest and therefore has consolidated the figures as the date of reporting.

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No definition available.

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Represents the number of direct minority investment entities that are not consolidated.

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No definition available.

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Represents the number of new board representatives

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Represents the number of individuals on the board

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Amount of write-down of assets recognized in the income statement. Includes, but is not limited to, losses from tangible assets, intangible assets and goodwill.

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The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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The amount of net income (loss) reported by an equity method investment of the entity.

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This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

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Carrying amount of the equity interests owned by noncontrolling shareholders, partners, or other equity holders in joint ventures included in the entity's consolidated financial statements.

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Amount of Net Income (Loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest.

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Amount of noncurrent assets classified as other.

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Percentage of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) voting interest owned by (or beneficial interest in) the reporting entity (directly or indirectly).

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Investments in Privately Held Companies (Details)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
Investments in Privately Held Companies (Details)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) employee entity	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($) entity	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) employee entity item	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($) entity	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) entity	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Direct investments \| item			6
Indirect investments \| item			4
Investments in privately-held companies	$ 6,192,000		$ 6,192,000		$ 6,599,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	(132,000)	$ (353,000)	(372,000)	$ (462,000)
Equity investments classified as other assets	12,004,000		$ 12,004,000		$ 12,842,000
Direct minority investments not consolidated \| entity			3		3
Minority investments not consolidated accounted for under equity method \| entity			7
Net income	(818,000)	(1,390,000)	$ (2,523,000)	(3,098,000)
Impairment charge	$ 0	$ 0		$ 0
Joint Ventures [Member]
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Indirect investments \| entity			4
Number of consolidated joint ventures \| entity	3	3	3	3
Income (loss) from consolidated joint ventures	$ 208,000	$ (306,000)	$ 196,000	$ (481,000)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	(132,000)	(353,000)	(372,000)	(462,000)
Net income (loss) from joint ventures attributable to parent	340,000	47,000	568,000	(19,000)
Other Assets [Member]
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments in privately-held companies	10,300,000		10,300,000		$ 11,300,000
Other Assets [Member] \| Joint Ventures [Member]
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Minority investment in consolidated joint venture, included in other assets	4,200,000		4,200,000		4,700,000
Beijing JiYa Semiconductor Material Co., Ltd Investment
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments, consolidated	$ 3,331,000		$ 3,331,000		3,331,000
Percentage of ownership, consolidated method (in hundredths)			46.00%
Number of persons on board \| employee	1		1
Employee duration			27 years
Nanjing JinMei Gallium Co., Ltd Investment
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments, consolidated	$ 592,000		$ 592,000		592,000
Percentage of ownership, consolidated method (in hundredths)			83.00%
Number of new board representatives \| employee			2
Beijing BoYu Semiconductor Vessel Craftwork Technology Co., Ltd Investment
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments, consolidated	1,346,000		$ 1,346,000		1,346,000
Percentage of ownership, consolidated method (in hundredths)			70.00%
Number of new board representatives \| employee			2
Donghai County Dongfang High Purity Electronic Materials Co., Ltd Investment
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments in privately-held companies	$ 1,394,000		$ 1,394,000		1,498,000
Percentage of ownership, equity method (in hundredths)	46.00%		46.00%
Xilingol Tongli Germanium Co. Ltd Investment
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments in privately-held companies	$ 3,813,000		$ 3,813,000		4,000,000
Percentage of ownership, equity method (in hundredths)	25.00%		25.00%
Emeishan Jia Mei High Purity Metals Co., Ltd Investment
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments in privately-held companies	$ 985,000		$ 985,000		1,101,000
Percentage of ownership, equity method (in hundredths)	25.00%		25.00%
Seven Minority Investments
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Minority investments not consolidated accounted for under equity method \| entity	7		7
Net income	$ (188,000)	$ (400,000)	$ (1,100,000)	$ (856,000)
One Gallium Company
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments in privately-held companies	0		0			$ 0
Impairment charge	0		$ 313,000
Beijing JiYa Semiconductor Material Co., Ltd
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Indirect investments \| entity			3
Nanjing JinMei Gallium Co., Ltd
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Indirect investments \| entity			1
Majority-Owned Subsidiaries [Member]
Summary of investments [Abstract]
Investments, consolidated	$ 5,269,000		$ 5,269,000		$ 5,269,000