Heavy Quark Impact Factor at Next-to-leading Level

We further analyze the definition and the calculation of the heavy quark impact factor at next-to-leading (NL) log(s) level, and we provide its analytical expression in a previously proposed k-factorization scheme. Our results indicate that k-factorization holds at NL level with a properly chosen energy scale, and with the same gluonic Green's function previously found in the massless probe case