Nature of Business (Details) (Dry strip product line, intellectual property rights and certain assets)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012 mm
Dry strip product line, intellectual property rights and certain assets
Sale of assets
Size of dry strip wafer processing equipment (in millimeters)	300

Represents the size of dry strip wafer processing equipment that the entity will stop selling.

No definition available.

Name:	acls_SizeOfDryStripWaferProcessingEquipmentCessationOfSales
Namespace Prefix:	acls_
Data Type:	num:lengthItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration