  The Belle-II experiment and superKEKB accelerator will form a next generation
B-factory at KEK, capable of running at an instantaneous luminosity 40 times
higher than the Belle detector and KEKB. This will allow for the elucidation of
many facets of the Standard Model by performing precision measurements of its
parameters, and provide sensitivity to many rare decays that are currently
inaccessible. This will require major upgrades to both the accelerator and
detector subsystems. The imaging Time-of-propagation (iTOP) detector will be a
new subdetector of Belle-II that will perform an integral role in Particle
identification (PID). It will comprise 16 modules between the tracking
detectors and calorimeter; each module consisting of a quartz radiator,
approximately 2.5m in length, instrumented with an array of 32 micro-channel
plate photodetectors (MCP-PMTs). The passage of charged particles through the
quartz will produce a cone of Cherenkov photons that will propagate along the
length of the quartz, and be detected by the MCP-PMTs. The excellent spatial,
and timing resolution (of 50 picoseconds) of the iTOP system will provide
superior particle identification capabilities, particularly allowing for
enhanced discrimination between pions and kaons that will be essential for many
of the key measurements to performed. The status of the construction of the
iTOP subdetector, and performance studies of prototypes at beam tests will be
presented, together with prospects for physics measurements that will utilise
the PID capabilities of the iTOP system.
