We consider periodic minimizers of the Lawrence–Doniach functional, which models highly anisotropic superconductors with layered structure, in the simultaneous limit as the layer thickness tends to zero and the Ginzburg–Landau parameter tends to infinity. In particular, we consider the properties of minimizers when the system is subjected to an external magnetic field applied either tangentially or normally to the superconducting planes. For normally applied fields, our results show that the resulting...