Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 37,284,000	$ 43,442,000
Gross profit	$ 13,898,000	$ 15,603,000
GM %	37.00%	36.00%
Operating Expenses, Total	$ 14,480,000	$ 14,924,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	60,000	(4,000)
Operating income (loss)	(582,000)	679,000
Depreciation and amortization	1,238,000	1,267,000
Capital expenditures	982,000	2,044,000
Intangibles, net	987,000	1,067,000
Goodwill	5,940,000	5,898,000	$ 6,131,000
Total assets	29,097,000	26,369,000
Optics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	19,282,000	23,686,000
Gross profit	$ 6,562,000	$ 8,010,000
GM %	34.00%	34.00%
Operating Expenses, Total	$ 6,183,000	$ 6,239,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	0	(4,000)
Operating income (loss)	379,000	1,775,000
Depreciation and amortization	970,000	949,000
Capital expenditures	575,000	1,503,000
Intangibles, net	467,000	517,000
Goodwill	1,001,000	959,000
Total assets	20,445,000	17,397,000
Contract Research [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	18,002,000	19,756,000
Gross profit	$ 7,336,000	$ 7,593,000
GM %	41.00%	38.00%
Operating Expenses, Total	$ 6,856,000	$ 6,619,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	0	0
Operating income (loss)	480,000	974,000
Depreciation and amortization	257,000	249,000
Capital expenditures	338,000	432,000
Intangibles, net	196,000	230,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total assets	8,078,000	8,325,000
Biomedical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0
Gross profit	$ 0	$ 0
GM %	0.00%	0.00%
Operating Expenses, Total	$ 1,381,000	$ 2,070,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	60,000	0
Operating income (loss)	(1,441,000)	(2,070,000)
Depreciation and amortization	11,000	69,000
Capital expenditures	69,000	109,000
Intangibles, net	324,000	320,000
Goodwill	0	0
Total assets	$ 574,000	$ 647,000