  Engineering the electronic band structure of two-dimensional electron liquids
(2DELs) confined at the surface or interface of transition metal oxides is key
to unlocking their full potential. Here we describe a new approach to tailoring
the electronic structure of an oxide surface 2DEL demonstrating the lateral
modulation of electronic states with atomic scale precision on an unprecedented
length scale comparable to the Fermi wavelength. To this end, we use pulsed
laser deposition to grow anatase TiO2 films terminated by a (1 x 4) in-plane
surface reconstruction. Employing photo-stimulated chemical surface doping we
induce 2DELs with tunable carrier densities that are confined within a few TiO2
layers below the surface. Subsequent in-situ angle resolved photoemission
experiments demonstrate that the (1 x 4) surface reconstruction provides a
periodic lateral perturbation of the electron liquid. This causes strong
backfolding of the electronic bands, opening of unidirectional gaps and a
saddle point singularity in the density of states near the chemical potential.
