Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Components of Goodwill by Operating Segment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross goodwill	$ 825,567	$ 817,096
Accumulated goodwill impairments	(614,958)	(614,958)
Goodwill, net of accumulated impairments	210,609	202,138
Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group
Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross goodwill	655,725	655,781
Accumulated goodwill impairments	(588,944)	(588,944)
Goodwill, net of accumulated impairments	66,781	66,837
Brooks Life Science Systems
Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross goodwill	143,828	135,301
Goodwill, net of accumulated impairments	143,828	135,301
Other
Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross goodwill	26,014	26,014
Accumulated goodwill impairments	$ (26,014)	$ (26,014)

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of accumulated impairment loss for an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillImpairedAccumulatedImpairmentLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=brks_BrooksSemiconductorSolutionsGroupMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=brks_BrooksLifeScienceSystemsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=us-gaap_AllOtherSegmentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: