Inverse effect of magnetostriction in magnetoelectric laminates

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.