Star formation in different environments like metallicity (abundance of the elements heavier than H and He) yields diverse outcomes, leaving distinctive signatures on stellar populations that can be traced through several parameters. Among these, the Initial Mass Function (IMF), the distribution of stellar masses formed within a cluster at its birth, is a fundamental diagnostic. This research investigates how low metallicity affects the shape of the IMF. The reduced cooling efficiency in metal-poor environments leads to higher equilibrium temperatures in star-forming clouds. This physical condition is predicted theoretically to favor a top-heavy IMF, characterized by a larger typical stellar mass compared to solar metallicity regions. We studied 15 stellar clusters located in the outer regions of the Galaxy, utilizing deep imaging from CFHT and LBT, as well as archival data from UKIDSS, which are among the deepest ground-based observations to date in these outer Galactic regions. Rigorous photometric analysis, followed by statistical decontamination to establish cluster membership, enabled precise determination of individual stellar masses and subsequent construction of each cluster's mass distribution.
In this talk, I will present our analysis of 15 young stellar clusters in the outer Galaxy and discuss whether the IMF retains a universal form under such diverse, low-metallicity conditions.