Suncore Joint Venture (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended					0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Nov. 30, 2011	Jul. 30, 2010	Aug. 06, 2012 CPV	Sep. 30, 2013 CPV	Sep. 30, 2013 Suncore	Sep. 30, 2012 Suncore	Sep. 30, 2011 Suncore	Jun. 30, 2013 Suncore	Mar. 31, 2013 Emcore Solar New Mexico	Sep. 30, 2013 Emcore Solar New Mexico	Dec. 31, 2011 Foreign Tax Authority	Sep. 30, 2013 Foreign Tax Authority	Oct. 31, 2013 Subsequent Event
Initital Registered Capital:
Equity method investment, initial registered capital, total entity														$ 30,000,000
Equity method investment, initial registered capital, equity partner														18,000,000
Equity method investment, initial registered capital, EMCORE														12,000,000
Basis Difference:
Equity method investment, basis difference, consulting fee, amount received														8,500,000
Equity method investment, basis difference, amortization period														5 years
Capital Distributions:
Equity method investment, deemed capital distribution and reinvestment, total entity										37,000,000
Equity method investment, deemed capital distribution and reinvestment, equity partner										22,200,000
Equity method investment, deemed capital distribution and reinvestment, EMCORE										14,800,000
Cash Dividends:
Equity method investment, dividend distribution, total entity										4,100,000
Equity method investment, dividend distribution, equity partner										2,500,000
Equity method investment, dividend distribution, EMCORE										1,600,000
Foreign income tax:
Foreign income tax expense on capital distributions		0	0	0	120,000		0	0	1,644,000	120,000	1,644,000	0											1,600,000	1,600,000
CPV Development Agreement:
Equity method investment, CPV development agreement, reimbursement rate	50.00%
Equity method investment, CPV development agreement, development fee rate	20.00%
Equity method investment, CPV development agreement, maximum development fee	200,000
Equity method investment, CPV development agreement, reimbursed costs, total											1,000,000
Equity method investment, CPV development agreement, development fees recognized							200,000
Equity Method Investment, Development Agreement, Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets						700,000					700,000
CPV Solar Cell License Agreement:
License agreement, expected proceeds over term													2,500,000												800,000
Summarized Financial Information:
Proceeds from sale of assets										1,150,000	13,121,000	0			2,800,000						1,500,000
Prepaid expense and other assets, current, portion of sales price of productive assets																2,800,000
Equity method investment, revenue																	15,900,000	6,200,000	0
Income (loss) from equity method investment						0	0	(241,000)	(960,000)	0	(1,201,000)	(1,842,000)
Gain (loss) on sale of assets																					300,000
Equity method investment																						300,000
Equity method investment, ownership percentage																				40.00%
Equity method investment, purchase price																				4,800,000
Equity method investment, sale of interest, deferred revenue																				3,300,000
Gain on sale of equity method investment		$ 4,800,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0					$ 4,800,000	$ 0	$ 0					$ 4,800,000