  Coupling the surface state of a topological insulator (TI) to an s-wave
superconductor is predicted to produce the long-sought Majorana quasiparticle
excitations. However, superconductivity has not been measured in surface states
when the bulk charge carriers are fully depleted, i.e., in the true topological
regime that is relevant for investigating Majorana modes. Here, we report
measurements of DC Josephson effects in TI-superconductor junctions as the
chemical potential is moved from the bulk bands into the band gap, or through
the true topological regime characterized by the presence of only surface
currents. We examine the relative behavior of the system at different
bulk/surface ratios, determining the effects of strong bulk/surface mixing,
disorder, and magnetic field. We compare our results to 3D quantum transport
simulations to conclude that the supercurrent is largely carried by surface
states, due to the inherent topology of the bands, and that it is robust
against disorder.
