Acquisitions - Goodwill (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2018	Nov. 15, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Apr. 20, 2018	Apr. 06, 2018	Oct. 05, 2017
Goodwill
Goodwill	$ 490,525		$ 255,876
Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group
Goodwill
Goodwill	47,796		47,963
Brooks Life Sciences
Goodwill
Goodwill	$ 442,729		$ 207,913
GENEWIZ
Goodwill
Goodwill		$ 236,504
GENEWIZ | Brooks Life Sciences
Goodwill
Goodwill		236,500
Goodwill deductible for tax purposes		$ 0
Tec-Sem Group AG
Goodwill
Goodwill					$ 7,665
Goodwill deductible for tax purposes					0
Tec-Sem Group AG | Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group
Goodwill
Goodwill					$ 7,700
4titude Limited
Goodwill
Goodwill						$ 38,185
Goodwill deductible for tax purposes						0
4titude Limited | Brooks Life Sciences
Goodwill
Goodwill						$ 38,185
BioSpeciMan Corporation
Goodwill
Goodwill				$ 2,700
Goodwill deductible for tax purposes				0
BioSpeciMan Corporation | Brooks Life Sciences
Goodwill
Goodwill				$ 2,700