We report on microscopic tight-binding modeling of surface states in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ three-dimensional topological insulator, based on a sp$^3$ Slater-Koster Hamiltonian, with parameters calculated from density functional theory. The effect of spin-orbit interaction on the electronic structure of the bulk and of a slab with finite thickness is investigated. In particular, a phenomenological criterion of band inversion is formulated for both bulk and slab, based on the calculated atomic- and orbital-projections of the wavefunctions, associated with valence and conduction band extrema at the center of the Brillouin zone. We carry out a thorough analysis of the calculated bandstructures of slabs with varying thickness, where surface states are identified using a quantitative criterion according to their spatial distribution. The thickness-dependent energy gap, attributed to inter-surface interaction, and the emergence of gapless surface states for slabs above a critical thickness are investigated. We map out the transition to the infinite-thickness limit by calculating explicitly the modifications in the spatial distribution and spin-character of the surface states wavefunction with increasing the slab thickness. Our numerical analysis shows that the system must be approximately forty quintuple-layers thick to exhibit completely decoupled surface states, localized on the opposite surfaces. These results have implications on the effect of external perturbations on the surface states near the Dirac point.
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