One of the fundamental features of the superconducting cuprates is their layered structure. They are made of superconducting CuO2 planes—or blocks of planes—separated by other layers which act as charge reservoirs and, depending on their atomic constituents and thickness, can be insulating, metallic, or even superconducting. This anisotropic structure is thought to be at the origin of most of the unusual superconducting properties of these compounds, as, for instance, the high critical temperature Tc and the low irreversibility line...