Document And Entity Information Fair Value Measurement, Policy [Policy Text Block] Note To Financial Statement Details Textual Significant Accounting Policies Note 2 - Basis of Presentation and Recent Accounting Pronouncements Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Table Text Block] Note 4 - Investments in Debt Securities Note 5 - Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets Note 6 - Inventory Note 7 - Property and Equipment, Net Note 10 - Other Assets Long-term liabilities Note 11 - Accrued Liabilities Note 14 - Facility Lease Note 15 - Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity Note 16 - Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income ("AOCI") Net unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities Note 2 - Basis of Presentation and Recent Accounting Pronouncements - Fair Value of Items Measured on a Recurring Basis (Details) Stock-based compensation us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation Other Assets Note 4 - Investments in Debt Securities - Amortized Cost and Fair Value of Investments in Debt Securities (Details) Lessee, Leases [Policy Text Block] Note 5 - Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets - Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets (Details) us-gaap_LiabilitiesCurrent Total current liabilities Note 6 - Inventory - Schedule of Inventory (Details) Note 7 - Property and Equipment - Property and Equipment (Details) us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetUsefulLife Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life (Year) Note 10 - Other Assets - Other Assets (Details) Note 11 - Accrued Liabilities - Schedule of Accrued Liabilities (Details) Note 14 - Facility Lease - Base Rents (Details) Note 15 - Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity - Changes in Equity (Details) Note 16 - Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income ("AOCI") - Summary of Changes in AOCI (Details) Notes To Financial Statements Notes To Financial Statements [Abstract] lqmt_CommonStockPurchaseAgreementRemainingNumberOfSharesToBePurchasedAfterSatisfactionOfCertainConditions Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Remaining Number of Shares to be Purchased, After the Satisfaction of Certain Conditions (in shares) The remaining number of shares of the entity's common stock that will be purchased under the purchase agreement after the satisfaction of certain conditions. Operating expenses lqmt_CommonStockPurchaseAgreementPurchasePricePerShareAfterSatisfactionOfCertainConditions Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Purchase Price per Share, After Satisfaction of Certain Conditions (in dollars per share) The purchase price per share of the entity's common stock purchase agreement after satisfaction of certain conditions. lqmt_CommonStockPurchaseAgreementTheOtherPurchasePricePerShareNoLaterThan90DaysAfterSatisfactionOfCertainConditions Common Stock Purchase Agreement, the Other Purchase Price per Share, No Later than 90 Days after Satisfaction of Certain Conditions (in dollars per share) Represents the other purchase price per share under common stock purchase agreement no later than 90 Days after satisfaction of certain conditions. us-gaap_OtherThanTemporaryImpairmentLossDebtSecuritiesAvailableForSale Other-than-temporary Impairment Loss, Debt Securities, Available-for-sale, Total lqmt_CommonStockPurchaseAgreementValueOfSharesAuthorizedToBePurchasedNoLaterThan90DaysAfterSatisfactionOfCertainConditions Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Value of Shares Authorized to Be Purchased No Later than 90 Days after Satisfaction of Certain Conditions The value of shares to be purchased under a common stock purchase agreement no later than 90 days after satisfaction of certain conditions. Investments in debt securities- long term Investments in debt securities (long-term) Proceeds from sales of debt securities US Government Corporations and Agencies Securities [Member] us-gaap_Depreciation Depreciation, Total Depreciation and amortization Corporate Debt Securities [Member] Engel [Member] Represents information pertaining to the Company's dealings with the entity Engel Austria Gmbh ("Engel). lqmt_SupplyAndLicenseAgreementTerm Supply and License Agreement, Term (Year) The element that represents the term of a supply and license agreement. Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block] Other comprehensive loss Net increase in other comprehensive income (loss) Common Stock, Purchase Price per Share of $0.15 [Member] The purchase price per share of $0.15 for issued common stock. us-gaap_AssetsCurrent Total current assets Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block] Common Stock, Purchase Price per Share of $0.25 [ Member] The purchase price per share of $0.25 for issued common stock. Vest on March 10, 2016 [Member] Securities that have a vesting date of March 10, 2016. us-gaap_RealizedInvestmentGainsLosses Realized investment gains Vest on October 26, 2016 [Member] Securities that have a vesting date of October 26, 2016. Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications us-gaap_ReclassificationFromAccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeCurrentPeriodNetOfTax Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) us-gaap_StockholdersEquityIncludingPortionAttributableToNoncontrollingInterest Total shareholders' equity Balance Balance us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireAvailableForSaleSecuritiesDebt Purchases of debt securities Common stock, $0.001 par value; 1,100,000,000 shares authorized; 914,449,957 and 914,449,957 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively Financial Instruments [Domain] Measurement Frequency [Axis] Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsOutstandingWeightedAverageExercisePrice Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Weighted Average Exercise Price, Ending Balance (in dollars per share) Measurement Frequency [Domain] lqmt_ExclusiveLicenseAgreementTerm Exclusive License Agreement, Term (Year) Represents the term of an exclusive license agreement entered into by the Company. Fair Value, Recurring [Member] Common stock, shares authorized (in shares) lqmt_BusinessDevelopmentAgreementRoyaltyPercentage Business Development Agreement, Royalty Percentage Represents the royalty percentage associated with a business development agreement. Common stock, shares issued (in shares) lqmt_BusinessDevelopmentAgreementTerm Business Development Agreement, Term (Year) Represents the term of a business development agreement. Eutectix [Member] Represents information regarding Eutectix, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. Financial Instrument [Axis] Certificates of Deposit [Member] Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) Lessor, Operating Leases [Text Block] Accrued liabilities Accrued Liabilities, Current, Total Total Accrued payroll, vacation, and bonuses us-gaap_LessorOperatingLeaseTermOfContract Lessee, Operating Lease, Term of Contract (Month) us-gaap_LessorOperatingLeaseRenewalTerm Lessee, Operating Lease, Extend Term of Contract (Month) Warrants in Connection with the 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member] Represents warrants that have been issued in connection with the 2016 purchase agreement. The 2016 Purchase Agreement [Member] The Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the "2016 Purchase Agreement") with Liquidmetal Technology Limited, a Hong Kong company. Statistical Measurement [Domain] Accrued severance Maximum [Member] Supplemental Schedule of Non-Cash Financing Activities: Minimum [Member] Accounts payable Ownership [Domain] us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsOutstandingNumber Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Number, Ending Balance (in shares) Product and Service [Axis] Product and Service [Domain] Statistical Measurement [Axis] us-gaap_CapitalExpendituresIncurredButNotYetPaid Accrued capital expenditures Proceeds from disposal of fixed assets Proceeds from Sale of Property, Plant, and Equipment, Total Ownership [Axis] Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; 0 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively Preferred stock, shares issued (in shares) Interest and other receivables Represents the amount of interest and other receivables included in prepaid expenses and other current assets as of the balance sheet date. Equipment held for sale Represents information related to current equipment held-for-use. us-gaap_PolicyTextBlockAbstract Accounting Policies us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfMachineryAndEquipment Proceeds from Sale of Machinery and Equipment Restructuring Plan 2019 [Member] Represents information related to restructuring plan 2019. Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block] Property, Plant and Equipment [Table Text Block] Preferred stock, shares authorized (in shares) Inventory Inventory, Net, Total Total lqmt_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNegotiatedSalesPrice Property, Plant and Equipment, Negotiated Sales Price Represents negotiated sales price of property, plant and equipment. Investment in debt securities, unrealized gains (losses) us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardNumberOfSharesAvailableForGrant Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Number of Shares Available for Grant (in shares) Accrued audit fees Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share) Prepaid insurance premiums us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardAcceleratedCompensationCost Share-based Payment Arrangement, Accelerated Cost Revenues Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment Purchases of property and equipment Fair Value Hierarchy and NAV [Domain] us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireBuildings Payments to Acquire Buildings Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] Fair Value Hierarchy and NAV [Axis] Current liabilities: Contract liability Represents the amount of contract liability included in accrued liabilities, current. Vesting [Axis] Vesting [Domain] Product [Member] us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentDisposals Property, Plant and Equipment, Disposals us-gaap_Assets Total assets us-gaap_ReceivablesNetCurrent Receivables, Net, Current, Total Plan Name [Axis] Plan Name [Domain] Non-controlling interest in subsidiary Other Assets Disclosure [Text Block] Operating activities: Prepaid service invoices Amount of asset related to consideration paid in advance for service that provides economic benefits within a future period of one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Schedule of Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets [Table Text Block] Tabular disclosure of the carrying amount of prepaid expenses and other current assets. Warrants Statement [Line Items] lqmt_LessorOperatingLeaseReceivablePerMonthMaximum Lessee, Operating Lease Payable, Per Month Maximum Represents maximum operating lease receivable for lessor per month. lqmt_LessorOperatingLeaseReceivablePerMonthInitially Lessee, Operating Lease Payable, Per Month Initially Represents operating lease receivable per month initially for lessor. Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts Light Industrial and Office Building [Member] Represents information related to light industrial and office building. Additional paid-in capital Prepaid lease costs and receivables- short term Represents information related to prepaid lease costs and short-term receivables. Land, Buildings and Improvements [Member] Revenue Share-based Payment Arrangement [Text Block] AOCI Attributable to Parent [Member] Shareholders' equity: Office Equipment, Furnishings and Improvements [Member] Information pertaining to office equipment, furnishings and improvements. Investments in debt securities- short term Investments in debt securities (short-term) Long-Lived Tangible Asset [Axis] us-gaap_OtherAssets Other Assets, Total Long-Lived Tangible Asset [Domain] Business Description and Basis of Presentation [Text Block] Current assets: us-gaap_SaleOfStockPricePerShare Sale of Stock, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) Schedule of Other Assets, Noncurrent [Table Text Block] Lease income Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block] us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss Net loss attributable to Liquidmetal Technologies shareholders Patents and trademarks, net Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill), Total us-gaap_CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalentsIncludingDisposalGroupAndDiscontinuedOperations Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period License [Member] us-gaap_CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalentsPeriodIncreaseDecreaseIncludingExchangeRateEffect Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash us-gaap_NetIncomeLossAttributableToNoncontrollingInterest Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest us-gaap_NetCashProvidedByUsedInFinancingActivities Net cash provided by financing activities us-gaap_Liabilities Total liabilities Sale of Stock [Axis] Sale of Stock [Domain] us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss Operating loss Share-based Payment Arrangement, Option [Member] us-gaap_NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities Net cash used in operating activities Prepaid expenses and other current assets Prepaid Expense and Other Assets, Current Total Warrant [Member] us-gaap_NetCashProvidedByUsedInInvestingActivities Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities Antidilutive Securities [Axis] Antidilutive Securities, Name [Domain] us-gaap_GrossProfit Gross profit Cost of sales Counterparty Name [Axis] Counterparty Name [Domain] us-gaap_ComprehensiveIncomeNetOfTaxAttributableToNoncontrollingInterest Less: Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interests us-gaap_AccumulatedDepreciationDepletionAndAmortizationPropertyPlantAndEquipment Accumulated depreciation Property and equipment, net Total property and equipment, net Property and equipment, gross Investment, Policy [Policy Text Block] Eontec [Member] Represents the name of the related party, Eontec, of which the Company procured services from. lqmt_BeneficialOwnershipPercentage Beneficial Ownership Percentage Percentage of the Company owned by a beneficial owner. License Agreement [Member] Represents the license agreement with related party. Other Liabilities Disclosure [Text Block] Additional Paid in Capital, Attributable to Warrants [Member] Excess of issue price over par or stated value of the entity's capital stock and amounts received from other transactions involving the entity's stock or stockholders, attributable to warrants. AOCI, Accumulated Gain (Loss), Debt Securities, Available-for-sale, Including Noncontrolling Interest [Member] Interest and investment income Interest and Other Income, Total Net loss Net loss Net loss us-gaap_ComprehensiveIncomeNetOfTaxIncludingPortionAttributableToNoncontrollingInterest Comprehensive loss Disclosure of Equipment Held-for-sale [Text Block] Represents disclosure of equipment held for sale. Noncontrolling Interest [Member] Investing Activities: Investment in debt securities, fair value us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInOtherOperatingCapitalNet Other assets and liabilities Retained Earnings [Member] Earnings Per Share [Text Block] Proceeds from exercise of stock options us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInAccountsPayableAndAccruedLiabilities Accounts payable and accrued liabilities us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAmountsOfTransaction Related Party Transaction, Amounts of Transaction Additional Paid-in Capital [Member] Common Stock [Member] Related Party Transactions Disclosure [Text Block] Preferred Stock [Member] Income taxes lqmt_UnamortizedPrepaidBrokerCommissions Unamorized Prepaid Broker Commissions Represents amount of unamortized prepaid broker commissions. Equity Components [Axis] Equity Component [Domain] us-gaap_ClassOfWarrantOrRightExercisePriceOfWarrantsOrRights1 Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights (in dollars per share) Prepaid Lease Costs and Long-term Receivables [Member] Represents information related to prepaid lease cost and long-term receivables. Class of Warrant or Right [Axis] Utility Deposits [Member] Represents information related to utility deposits. Class of Warrant or Right [Domain] us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesExtraordinaryItemsNoncontrollingInterest Loss before income taxes us-gaap_ClassOfWarrantOrRightNumberOfSecuritiesCalledByWarrantsOrRights Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights (in shares) Allocated Unity Cost [Member] Represents information related to allocated unity cost. us-gaap_OperatingExpenses Total operating expenses lqmt_PrepaidBrokerCommission Prepaid Broker Commission Represents amount of prepaid broker commission. lqmt_PeriodForOutstandingLiability Period for Outstanding Liability (Year) Refers to period for outstanding liability. Comprehensive Income (Loss) Note [Text Block] Other comprehensive loss, net of tax Equity Incentive Plan [Member] Refers to 2002 Equity Incentive Plan which provided for the grant of stock options to officers, employees, consultants and directors of the Company and its subsidiaries, the Company granted options to purchase the Company's common stock. All options granted under this plan had exercise prices that were equal to the fair market value on the date of grant. Schedule of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Table Text Block] Restricted cash Equity Incentive Plan 2012 [Member] Information pertaining to the Equity Incentive Plan adopted in 2012. Equity Incentive Plan 2015 [Member] The name or description of the equity based plan. Cash and cash equivalents Valencia Circle, LLC [Member] Refers to information regarding the entity Valencia Circle, LLC. Chairman of Eontec [Member] Represents the Chairman of Eontec, Mr. Li. Equipment [Member] Machinery and Equipment [Member] Computer Equipment [Member] Amendment Flag Accounting Policies [Abstract] us-gaap_ComprehensiveIncomeNetOfTax Comprehenisve loss attributable to Liquidmetal Technologies shareholders New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block] Selling, General and Administrative Expenses [Member] Entity Interactive Data Current us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfPropertyPlantEquipment Gain on disposal of long-lived assets us-gaap_SharesOutstanding Balance (in shares) Balance (in shares) us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInContractWithCustomerLiability Deferred revenue Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares) Debt Securities [Member] Preferred stock, shares outstanding (in shares) Title of 12(b) Security Current Fiscal Year End Date Receivable Type [Axis] Cost of Sales [Member] Receivable [Domain] us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInPrepaidDeferredExpenseAndOtherAssets Prepaid expenses and other current assets Document Fiscal Period Focus Document Fiscal Year Focus Document Period End Date Income Statement Location [Axis] Income Statement Location [Domain] lqmt_PrepaidRentNoncurrent Straight Line Rent Represents noncurrent prepaid rent. Entity Emerging Growth Company lqmt_PercentageOfCommonOperatingExpressesPaidByTenant Percentage of Common Operating Expresses Represents percentage of common operating expenses paid by Tenant Document Type Entity Small Business Entity Shell Company Document Information [Line Items] Document Information [Table] us-gaap_AreaOfRealEstateProperty Area of Real Estate Property (Square Foot) Entity Filer Category Liquidmetal Golf [Member] The legal entity of Liquidmetal Golf. Entity Current Reporting Status Number of weighted average shares - basic and diluted (in shares) us-gaap_LessorOperatingLeasePaymentsToBeReceived Lessor, Operating Lease, Payments to be Received, Total us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount (in shares) 2024 Stock-based compensation us-gaap_AdjustmentsToAdditionalPaidInCapitalSharebasedCompensationRequisiteServicePeriodRecognitionValue Thereafter us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInAccountsReceivable Trade accounts receivable 2020 Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract] Net loss per common share attributable to Liquidmetal Technologies shareholders, basic and diluted (in dollars per share) Entity Central Index Key Entity Registrant Name 2021 Per common share basic and diluted: 2022 2023 Entity [Domain] Asset Class [Axis] Legal Entity [Axis] Asset Class [Domain] Statement [Table] us-gaap_MinorityInterestOwnershipPercentageByParent Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent Lessor, Operating Lease, Payment to be Received, Fiscal Year Maturity [Table Text Block] Statement of Financial Position [Abstract] us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets Amortization of Intangible Assets, Total Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities Disclosure [Text Block] Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract] Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares) Investments in Debt and Marketable Equity Securities (and Certain Trading Assets) Disclosure [Text Block] Income Statement [Abstract] Schedule of Accrued Liabilities [Table Text Block] Significant Transactions [Text Block] Disclosure for significant transactions. Investments [Domain] us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories Inventory Trading Symbol Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets [Text Block] The entire disclosure for prepaid expenses and other current assets. Investment Type [Axis] us-gaap_GainLossOnDispositionOfAssets Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Property Plant Equipment, Excluding Oil and Gas Property and Timber Property Stock option exercises (in shares) us-gaap_TableTextBlock Notes Tables Restructuring Plan [Axis] Restructuring Plan [Domain] Stock option exercises Related Party [Axis] Related Party [Domain] us-gaap_AreaOfLand Area of Land (Square Foot) Selling, marketing, general and administrative us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsGrantsInPeriodGross Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Grants in Period, Gross (in shares) Financing Activities: lqmt_CommonStockPurchaseAgreementNumberOfSharesAuthorizedToIssueAndSellToInvestors Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Number of Shares Authorized to Issue and Sell to Investors (in shares) The number of shares authorized to issue and sell to investors under a common stock purchase agreement. us-gaap_WarrantsAndRightsOutstandingTerm Warrants and Rights Outstanding, Term (Year) Other long-term liabilities Other Liabilities, Noncurrent, Total Schedule of Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis [Table Text Block] us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodSharesNewIssues Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues (in shares) us-gaap_LiabilitiesAndStockholdersEquity Total liabilities and shareholders' equity Work in progress us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodValueNewIssues Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues lqmt_CommonStockPurchaseAgreementValueOfSharesAuthorizedToIssueAndSellToInvestors Common Stock Purchase Agreement, Value of Shares Authorized to Issue and Sell to Investors The value of shares authorized to issue and sell to investors under a common stock purchase agreement. Related Party Transaction [Axis] Related Party Transaction [Domain] Research and development Accumulated deficit Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) Changes in operating assets and liabilities: us-gaap_DisclosureTextBlockAbstract Notes to Financial Statements Inventory Disclosure [Text Block] Schedule of Inventory, Current [Table Text Block] Class of Stock [Axis] Schedule of Stockholders Equity [Table Text Block] Investment in debt securities, amortized cost us-gaap_LeaseDepositLiability Tenant Deposits