Development of high energy particle time-of-flight detector

This dissertation covers the development of AFP-ToF, a fast timing detector system intended for use as a part of the ATLAS project at the LHC accelerator. The purpose of this system is to match the protons detected by the AFP silicon tracker detectors to the appropriate collision vertex in ATLAS. Without this, the AFP would be burdened with excessive background in data collected at the standard LHC luminosity with significant pile-up. The ToF system is first characterized in its original form, then the numerous modifications and upgrades are described, their motivation explained and their impact evaluated. The performance of the system as a whole is presented. Finally, the installation and commissioning phases are discussed, the last necessary steps before the updated ToF system can enter standard operation at the LHC.