Income Taxes (Details 2) (United States)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
United States
Valuation allowance
Period of cumulative loss position	3 years
Percentage of valuation allowance	100.00%

Represents the number of consecutive years during which the reporting entity has been in a loss position for income tax reporting purposes.

No definition available.

Name:	acls_PeriodOfCumulativeLossPosition
Namespace Prefix:	acls_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration