Closing the Pseudogap by Zeeman Splitting inBi2Sr2CaCu2O8+yat High Magnetic Fields

Interlayer tunneling resistivity is used to probe the low-energy density-of-states (DOS) depletion due to the pseudogap in the normal state of ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Sr}}_2{\mathrm{CaCu}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_{8+y}$. Measurements up to 60 T reveal that a field that restores DOS to its ungapped state shows strikingly different temperature and doping dependencies from the characteristic fields of the superconducting state. The pseudogap closing field and the pseudogap temperature $T^{\star }$ evaluated independently are related through a simple Zeeman energy scaling. These findings indicate a predominant role of spins over the orbital effects in the formation of the pseudogap.