Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 9,189,000	$ 9,143,000
Gross profit	$ 3,575,000	$ 3,525,000
GM %	39.00%	39.00%
Operating expenses	$ 3,744,000	$ 3,449,000
Operating income (loss)	(169,000)	76,000
Depreciation and amortization	299,000	311,000
Capital expenditures	625,000	111,000
Intangibles, net	978,000	1,033,000	$ 987,000
Goodwill	5,951,000	5,822,000	5,940,000
Total assets	27,697,000	28,252,000	$ 29,097,000
Optics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	4,942,000	4,405,000
Gross profit	$ 1,724,000	$ 1,574,000
GM %	35.00%	36.00%
Operating expenses	$ 1,576,000	$ 1,328,000
Operating income (loss)	148,000	246,000
Depreciation and amortization	231,000	234,000
Capital expenditures	590,000	91,000
Intangibles, net	453,000	474,000
Goodwill	1,012,000	883,000
Total assets	18,969,000	18,785,000
Contract Research [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	4,247,000	4,738,000
Gross profit	$ 1,851,000	$ 1,951,000
GM %	44.00%	41.00%
Operating expenses	$ 1,723,000	$ 1,740,000
Operating income (loss)	128,000	211,000
Depreciation and amortization	65,000	74,000
Capital expenditures	19,000	0
Intangibles, net	188,000	222,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total assets	8,114,000	8,407,000
Biomedical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0
Gross profit	$ 0	$ 0
GM %	0.00%	0.00%
Operating expenses	$ 445,000	$ 381,000
Operating income (loss)	(445,000)	(381,000)
Depreciation and amortization	3,000	3,000
Capital expenditures	16,000	20,000
Intangibles, net	337,000	337,000
Goodwill	0	0
Total assets	$ 614,000	$ 1,060,000