Low-frequency Electronic Transport Noise in La$_{2-x}$Ba$_x$CuO$_4$ Nanowires

In the pseudogap regime, high temperature superconductors often exhibit electronic structure, such as charge stripes. Charge stripes pinned to disorder have been predicted to contribute to low-frequency resistance fluctuations when sample dimensions are comparable to the size of stripe domains (Carlson, 2006). We are extending our previous studies of resistance fluctuations in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ (Bonetti, 2004; Caplan, 2010) to thin films of La-based cuprates expected to have a more stable stripe phase, particularly in the regime near 1/8-filling. We present measurements of the low-frequency electronic transport in La$_{2-x}$Ba$_x$CuO$_4$ nanowires fabricated by pulsed laser deposition and lithographic techniques. We discuss temperature dependence of the power spectral density and its relevance to correlated electron phases above T$_c$.