  We report on the characterization of torsional oscillators which use
multi-walled carbon nanotubes as the spring elements. Through
atomic-force-microscope force-distance measurements we are able to apply
torsional strains to the nanotubes and measure their torsional spring constants
and effective shear moduli. We find that the effective shear moduli cover a
broad range, with the largest values near the theoretically predicted value.
The data also suggest that the nanotubes are stiffened by repeated flexing.
