DIMENSIONALITY AND FERMI-SURFACE OF LOW-DIMENSIONAL METALS

Low-dimensional metals exhibit a wealth of interesting phenomena assoc iated with the special topology of their Fermi surfaces. These Fermi s urfaces contain a very rich information concerning not only the dimens ionality of the conductivity but also the possibility of different met al-to-insulator or metal-to-metal transitions. Because the shape of th e Fermi surface is to a great extent imposed by the crystal structure, it is important to develop conceptual models to find the link between the crystal structure and the Fermi surface of these systems. An appr oach based on simple ideas of overlap, symmetry, and chemical bonding is used to analyze some puzzling observations concerning a number of l ow-dimensional metals including oxides, bronzes, and molecular metals.