Born-Oppenheimer approximation for mass scaling of cold-collision properties

Asymptotic levels of the A {sup 1}{sigma}{sub u}{sup +} state of the two isotopomers {sup 39}K{sub 2} and {sup 39}K{sup 41}K up to the dissociation limit are investigated with a Doppler-free high resolution laser-spectroscopic experiment in a molecular beam. The observed level structure can be reproduced correctly only if a mass dependent correction term is introduced for the interaction potential. The applied relative correction in the depth of the potential is 10{sup -6}, which is in the order of magnitude expected for corrections of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. A similar change in ground state potentials might lead to significant changes of mass-scaled properties describing cold collisions like the s-wave scattering length.