  We investigate the star formation activity in a young star forming cluster
embedded at the edge of the RCW 41 HII region. As a complementary goal, we aim
at demonstrating the gain provided by Wide-Field Adaptive Optics instruments to
study young clusters. We used deep, JHKs images from the newly commissioned
Gemini-GeMS/GSAOI instrument, complemented with Spitzer IRAC observations, in
order to study the photometric properties of the young stellar cluster. GeMS is
an AO instrument, delivering almost diffraction limited images over a field of
2' across. The exquisite angular resolution allows us to reach a limiting
magnitude of J = 22 for 98% completeness. The combination of the IRAC
photometry with our JHKs catalog is used to build color-color diagrams, and
select Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) candidates. We detect the presence of 80
Young Stellar Object (YSO) candidates. Those YSOs are used to infer the cluster
age, which is found to be in the range 1 to 5 Myr. We find that 1/3 of the YSOs
are in a range between 3 to 5 Myr, while 2/3 of the YSO are < 3 Myr. When
looking at the spatial distribution of these two populations, we evidence a
potential age gradient across the field, suggesting sequential star formation.
We construct the IMF, and show that we can sample the mass distribution well
into the brown dwarf regime (down to 0.01 Msun). The logarithmic mass function
rises to peak at 0.3 Msun, before turning over and declining into the brown
dwarf regime. The total cluster mass derived is estimated to be 78 +/- 18 Msun,
while the ratio of brown dwarfs to star derived is 18 p/- 5 %. When comparing
with other young clusters, we find that the IMF shape of the young cluster
embedded within RCW 41 is consistent with those of Trapezium, IC 348 or
Chamaeleon I, except for the IMF peak, which happens to be at higher mass. This
characteristic is also seen in clusters like NGC 6611 or even Taurus.
