Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Segment Information (Details) - segment	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments	2	2	2	2
Number of reporting units	5	5	5	5
Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reporting units	3	3	3	3
Brooks Life Sciences
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments	2	2	2	2
Number of reporting units	2	2	2	2

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration