Segment Data - Other Disclosures (Details)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2012 Photovoltaics Loral Space & Communications	Jun. 30, 2012 Photovoltaics Loral Space & Communications	Jun. 30, 2011 Photovoltaics Loral Space & Communications	Jun. 30, 2011 Fiber Optics Cisco Systems, Inc.
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Entity-Wide Revenue, Major Customer, Percentage	16.00%	15.00%	12.00%	10.00%

Percentage of revenue generated from a single external customer that accounts for 10 percent or more of an entity's revenues.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_EntityWideRevenueMajorCustomerPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration