Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 40,681,000	$ 37,284,000
Gross profit	$ 15,236,000	$ 13,898,000
GM %	37.00%	37.00%
Operating expenses	$ 14,892,000	$ 14,420,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	0	60,000
Impairment of long-lived assets	182,000	0
Operating income (loss)	162,000	(582,000)
Depreciation and amortization	1,257,000	1,238,000
Capital expenditures	2,317,000	982,000
Intangibles, net	755,000	987,000
Goodwill	5,900,000	5,940,000	$ 5,898,000
Total assets	31,532,000	29,097,000
Optics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	23,053,000	19,282,000
Gross profit	$ 7,667,000	$ 6,562,000
GM %	33.00%	34.00%
Operating expenses	$ 7,003,000	$ 6,183,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	0	0
Impairment of long-lived assets	0	0
Operating income (loss)	664,000	379,000
Depreciation and amortization	1,006,000	970,000
Capital expenditures	2,033,000	575,000
Intangibles, net	390,000	467,000
Goodwill	961,000	1,001,000
Total assets	22,946,000	20,445,000
Innovation and Development [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	17,628,000	18,002,000
Gross profit	$ 7,569,000	$ 7,336,000
GM %	43.00%	41.00%
Operating expenses	$ 7,072,000	$ 6,856,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	0	0
Impairment of long-lived assets	0	0
Operating income (loss)	497,000	480,000
Depreciation and amortization	237,000	257,000
Capital expenditures	211,000	338,000
Intangibles, net	162,000	196,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total assets	8,376,000	8,078,000
Biomedical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0
Gross profit	$ 0	$ 0
GM %	0.00%	0.00%
Operating expenses	$ 817,000	$ 1,381,000
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	0	60,000
Impairment of long-lived assets	182,000	0
Operating income (loss)	(999,000)	(1,441,000)
Depreciation and amortization	14,000	11,000
Capital expenditures	73,000	69,000
Intangibles, net	203,000	324,000
Goodwill	0	0
Total assets	$ 210,000	$ 574,000