Note 3 - Significant Transactions (Details Textual)												1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 16, 2017 USD ($) ft²	Oct. 26, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Aug. 25, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 10, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Mar. 09, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Aug. 22, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Aug. 20, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 06, 2013	Nov. 08, 2013 USD ($) shares	Jul. 17, 2013 shares	Jan. 31, 2012	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) shares	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 22, 2017 $ / shares shares	May 19, 2016 $ / shares shares	Jul. 02, 2012 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2012 $ / shares shares	Jun. 01, 2012 $ / shares shares
Area of Land | ft²	41,000
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues | $																$ 61,379,000	$ 1,568,000
Common Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ / shares													$ 0.001		$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Proceeds from Issuance of Common Stock | $																$ 62,650,000	1,568,000
Interest Expense | $																$ 9,000	4,000
Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity | $												$ 2,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate During Period												2.10%				2.10%
Interest Expense | $													$ 0		$ 0	$ 9,000	$ 4,000
Line of Credit [Member] | Collateral Pledged [Member] | Cash [Member]
Line of Credit Facility, Collateral Fees, Amount | $			$ 1,000,000
Eontec [Member]
Purchase Price for Machinery and Equipment | $																			$ 780,000
Warrants in Connection with the 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member]
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights | shares				10,066,809
Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights | $ / shares		$ 0.07		$ 0.07
Warrants in Connection with the 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member] | Vest on March 10, 2016 [Member]
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights | shares				2,609,913
Warrants in Connection with the 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member] | Vest on October 26, 2016 [Member]
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights | shares		7,456,896
July 2012 Private Placement Warrants [Member]
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights | shares																						18,750,000
Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights | $ / shares													$ 0.17		$ 0.17	$ 0.17						$ 0.384
Warrants in Connection with Vissar MTA Agreement [Member]
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights | shares													21,317,094		21,317,094	21,317,094				21,317,094			15,000,000	15,000,000
Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights | $ / shares													$ 0.16		$ 0.16	$ 0.16				$ 0.16			$ 0.22	$ 0.22
Common Stock [Member]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares																405,000,000	12,500,000
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues | $																$ 405,000	$ 13,000
The 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member]
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Number of Shares Authorized to Issue and Sell to Investors | shares				405,000,000
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Value of Shares Authorized to Issue and Sell to Investors | $				$ 63,400,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares		300,000,000		105,000,000
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues | $		$ 55,000,000		$ 8,400,000
Sale of Stock, Price Per Share | $ / shares				$ 0.08
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Purchase Price per Share, After Satisfaction of Certain Conditions | $ / shares		$ 0.15																			$ 0.15
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, the Other Purchase Price per Share, No Later than 90 Days after Satisfaction of Certain Conditions | $ / shares		$ 0.25																			$ 0.25
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Value of Shares Authorized to Be Purchased No Later than 90 Days after Satisfaction of Certain Conditions | $		$ 55,000,000
The 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member] | Common Stock, Purchase Price per Share of $0.15 [Member]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares		200,000,000
Sale of Stock, Price Per Share | $ / shares		$ 0.15
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Remaining Number of Shares to be Purchased, After the Satisfaction of Certain Conditions | shares		200,000,000																			200,000,000
The 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member] | Common Stock, Purchase Price per Share of $0.25 [ Member]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares		100,000,000
Sale of Stock, Price Per Share | $ / shares		$ 0.25
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Remaining Number of Shares to be Purchased, After the Satisfaction of Certain Conditions | shares		100,000,000																			100,000,000
The 2014 Purchase Agreement [Member]
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Value of Shares Authorized to Issue and Sell to Investors | $							$ 30,000,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares														12,500,000
Common Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ / shares							$ 0.001
Common Stock Subscriptions, Term							3 years
Proceeds from Issuance of Common Stock | $					$ 1,568,000									$ 1,568,000
The 2014 Purchase Agreement [Member] | Common Stock [Member]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares					12,500,000
Stock Issued During Period, Weighted Average Price Per Share | $ / shares					$ 0.13									$ 0.13
Common Stock Purchase Agreement [Member]
Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Value of Shares Authorized to Issue and Sell to Investors | $									$ 20,000,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares						85,355,615												85,355,615
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues | $						$ 16,000,000												$ 16,000,000
Common Stock Subscriptions, Term									3 years
Stock Issued During Period, Weighted Average Price Per Share | $ / shares						$ 0.19
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Other | shares									2,666,667
Private Placement [Member] | Convertible Notes Payable [Member]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount | $																						$ 12,000,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price | $ / shares																						$ 0.352
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage																						8.00%
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Shares Issued | shares										163,641,547
Liquidmetal Golf [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent													79.00%		79.00%
Liquidmetal Technology Limited [Member] | Lugee Li [Member]
Ownership Percentage				100.00%
Valencia Circle, LLC [Member]
Payments to Acquire Buildings | $	$ 7,818,000
Engel [Member]
Supply and License Agreement, Term											5 years
Exclusive License Agreement, Term								10 years