Field Suppression of the Density-of-States: A Mechanism for Large Linear Magnetoresistance

Hall, resistivity, magnetization, and thermoelectric power measurements were performed on single crystals of the highly anisotropic layered metal LaSb2. A 100-fold linear magnetoresistance (MR) was observed in fields up to 45 T, with no indication of saturation. We show that the MR is associated with a magnetic-field-dependent holelike carrier density, n(H) \propto 1/H. The effect is orbital, depending upon the component of the magnetic field normal to the layers. At low temperature, a field of 9 T reduces the carrier density by more than an order of magnitude.