Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Goodwill Impairment Test (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) item
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment \| $	$ 0
Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment \| $	$ 0
Number of reporting units for which qualitative assessment was conducted \| item	3
Number of reporting units for which quantitative assessment was conducted \| item	1
Brooks Life Science Systems
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment \| $	$ 0
Number of reporting units for which quantitative assessment was conducted \| item	1

Amount of loss from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13854-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13777-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration