  We introduce the notion of inverse effect of magnetostriction for
magnetostrictive/piezoelectric heterostructures and study this effect
theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that the inverse effect of
magnetostriction may crucially contribute to the mechanism of magnetoelectric
coupling. It is shown that the studied effect essentially modifies the
saturation magnetostriction of the whole structure as compared to its magnetic
phase bulk and also induces an additional magnetic anisotropy. Our
consideration provides useful insight into the fundamental issue of
strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling. Understanding this effect may lead to
its utilization in original experimental concepts and the improvement of the ME
coupling.
