  We invert experimental data for heavy-ion fusion reactions at energies well
below the Coulomb barrier in order to directly determine the internucleus
potential between the colliding nuclei. In contrast to the previous
applications of the inversion formula, we explicitly take into account the
effect of channel couplings on fusion reactions, by assuming that fusion cross
sections at deep subbarrier energies are governed by the lowest barrier in the
barrier distribution. We apply this procedure to the $^{16}$O +$^{144}$Sm and
$^{16}$O +$^{208}$Pb reactions, and find that the inverted internucleus
potential are much thicker than phenomenological potentials. A relation to the
steep fall-off phenomenon of fusion cross sections recently found at deep
subbarrier energies is also discussed.
