Tunneling effect element and physical quantity to electrical quantity transducer

A tunneling effect element comprising:

• an insulating layer that forms a tunneling barrier;
• a lower electrode that is conductive and consists of non-magnetic material, and is formed on a bottom surface of said insulating layer;
• an upper electrode that is conductive and consists of non-magnetic material, and is formed on a top surface of said insulating layer;
• a transmission member made of insulating material that is formed surrounding said insulating layer and said lower and upper electrodes, and also is formed on a surface of an object to be detected, and transmits deformation of said object to said insulating layer,
• wherein said tunneling effect element detects a change in stress of said object to be detected as a change in electric resistance arising from a change in tunneling current between said lower electrode and said upper electrode.