Topological Insulators have been a major focus in condensed-matter physics over the past six years. It was realized that the spin polarized surface states of topological insulators can lead to novel applications in spintronics or even in quantum computing. The exciting physics includes the famous Majorana fermion, believed to arise when a topological insulator is brought in close proximity to a s-wave superconductor, resulting in an artificial p-wave like superconductor. This thesis contributes to this ongoing research by describing the underlying theory and investigating the necessary steps to create a successful interface between a topological insulator and a s-wave superconductor, thus laying the groundwork for probing the proximity effect in these interfaces with Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy. Nb, Pb and PbBi structures were investigated and a suitable geometry, that was grown with a shadow mask, is presented.
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