Young brown dwarfs: exploring the bottom of the Initial Mass Function

Brown dwarfs are the objects that bridge the realms of stars and planets, making them important benchmarks for testing star and planet formation theories. In particular, studies of brown dwarfs at young ages are crucial for understanding the mass dependence in the formation and early evolution of stars. Star forming regions and young clusters harbour large populations of these substellar objects, including some with masses comparable to those of giant planets. Our deep survey SONYC (Substellar Objects in Nearby Young Clusters) was designed to provide a census of the substellar population in nearby star forming regions, and characterize their Initial Mass Functions down to unprecedented masses below 10 MJup. In this talk I will present the current status of the studies of the low-mass IMF, discuss possible effects of environment, and outline the impact on our understanding of star formation.