  Single-Dirac-cone topological insulators (TI) are the first experimentally
discovered class of three dimensional topologically ordered electronic systems,
and feature robust, massless spin-helical conducting surface states that appear
at any interface between a topological insulator and normal matter that lacks
the topological insulator ordering. This topologically defined surface
environment has been theoretically identified as a promising platform for
observing a wide range of new physical phenomena, and possesses ideal
properties for advanced electronics such as spin-polarized conductivity and
suppressed scattering. A key missing step in enabling these applications is to
understand how topologically ordered electrons respond to the interfaces and
surface structures that constitute a device. Here we explore this question by
using the surface deposition of cathode (Cu/In/Fe) and anode materials (NO$_2$)
and control of bulk doping in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ from P-type to N-type charge
transport regimes to generate a range of topological insulator interface
scenarios that are fundamental to device development. The interplay of
conventional semiconductor junction physics and three dimensional topological
electronic order is observed to generate novel junction behaviors that go
beyond the doped-insulator paradigm of conventional semiconductor devices and
greatly alter the known spin-orbit interface phenomenon of Rashba splitting.
Our measurements for the first time reveal new classes of diode-like
configurations that can create a gap in the interface electron density near a
topological Dirac point and systematically modify the topological surface state
Dirac velocity, allowing far reaching control of spin-textured helical Dirac
electrons inside the interface and creating advantages for TI superconductors
as a Majorana fermion platform over spin-orbit semiconductors.
