Number of Reporting Units, Goodwill Balances

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- Definition

Amount of short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Glossary Cash Equivalents

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-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

-Paragraph 1

-Article 5

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Aggregate carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the liabilities for all deferred compensation arrangements. Represents currently earned compensation under compensation arrangements that is not actually paid until a later date.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

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

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Aggregate realized and unrealized loss on foreign currency transactions included in net income. Includes loss on a foreign currency forward exchange contract. Does not include foreign currency transactions designated as hedges of net investment in a foreign entity or intercompany foreign currency transactions that are of a long-term nature. Gross of tax effect.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 830

-SubTopic 20

-Section 45

-Paragraph 1

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-Publisher FASB

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-Number 52

-Paragraph 15, 20, 30

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- Definition

Cash dividends or other distributions received from unconsolidated subsidiaries, certain corporate joint ventures, and certain noncontrolled corporations that are returns of capital. Excludes dividends or distributions from equity method investments classified as operating activities.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

The aggregate amount of noncash, equity-based employee remuneration. This may include the value of stock or unit options, amortization of restricted stock or units, and adjustment for officers' compensation. As noncash, this element is an add back when calculating net cash generated by operating activities using the indirect method.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 95

-Paragraph 28

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 230

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 28

-Subparagraph (a)

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- Definition

Period which an employee's right to exercise an award is no longer contingent on satisfaction of either a service condition, market condition or a performance condition, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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- Definition

The number of grants made during the period on other than stock (or unit) option plans (for example, phantom stock or unit plan, stock or unit appreciation rights plan, performance target plan).

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 718

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (c)(2)(iii)(1)

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- Definition

The number of equity-based payment instruments, excluding stock (or unit) options, that vested during the reporting period.

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-Name Accounting Standards Codification

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- Definition

The difference between the maximum number of shares (or other type of equity) authorized for issuance under the plan (including the effects of amendments and adjustments), and the sum of: 1) the number of shares (or other type of equity) already issued upon exercise of options or other equity-based awards under the plan; and 2) shares (or other type of equity) reserved for issuance on granting of outstanding awards, net of cancellations and forfeitures, if applicable.

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-Topic 718

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended														3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013 reporting_unit	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Senior Management	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Senior Management	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Senior Management Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Senior Management Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Senior Management Awards subject to service criteria	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Senior Management Awards subject to service criteria	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Senior Management Awards subject to performance criteria	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Senior Management Awards subject to performance criteria	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted stock Chief Executive Officer Phantom Stock Units	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Chief Executive Officer Phantom Stock Units	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Chief Executive Officer Phantom Stock Units	Sep. 30, 2013 Top Ten Largest Customers	Sep. 30, 2013 Customer 1	Sep. 30, 2011 Customer 1	Sep. 30, 2013 Brooks Product Solutions reporting_unit	Sep. 30, 2013 Brooks Global Services reporting_unit	Sep. 30, 2013 Brooks Life Science Systems reporting_unit
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Net foreign currency transaction losses	$ 900,000	$ 400,000	$ 100,000
Cash equivalents	7,800,000	17,500,000
Cash distributions received from joint ventures reclassified on cash flows		5,100,000	2,400,000
Goodwill [Line Items]
Number of Reporting Units, Goodwill Balances	5																				3	1	1
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Percentage of revenues by customer	11.00%	13.00%																39.00%	11.00%	15.00%
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Restricted stocks granted				1,471,977			1,394,000	1,527,000							100,000
Restricted stocks vested				755,187							716,625	406,750	677,375	1,120,250
Total compensation expense on awards	7,757,000	8,647,000	6,752,000						15,100,000	14,400,000						78,000
Liability related to potential cash payment																$ 78,000	$ 0
Equity incentive plan, vesting period					2 years	4 years
Shares available for grant	3,259,558