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Dissipative Kerr soliton generation in chip-scale nonlinear resonators has recently observed remarkable advances, spanning from massively parallel communications, to self-referenced oscillators, and to dual-comb spectroscopy. Often working in the anomalous dispersion regime, unique driving protocols and dispersion in these nonlinear resonators have been examined to achieve the soliton and soliton-like temporal pulse shapes and coherent frequency comb generation. The normal dispersion regime provides a complementary approach to bridge the nonlinear dynamical studies, including the possibility of square pulse formation with flattop plateaus, or platicons. Here we report observations of square pulse formation in chip-scale frequency combs through stimulated pumping at one free spectral range and in silicon nitride rings with$+55{\mathrm{fs}}^2/\mathrm{mm}$normal group velocity dispersion. Tuning of the platicon frequency comb via a varied sideband modulation frequency is examined in both spectral and temporal measurements. Determined by second-harmonic autocorrelation and cross correlation, we observe bright square platicon pulse of 17 ps pulse width on a 19 GHz flat frequency comb. With auxiliary-laser-assisted thermal stabilization, we surpass the thermal bistable dragging and extend the mode-locking access to narrower 2 ps platicon pulse states, supported by nonlinear dynamical modeling and boundary limit discussions.

Femtosecond mode-locked laser frequency combs have served as the cornerstone in precision spectroscopy, all-optical atomic clocks, and measurements of ultrafast dynamics. Recently frequency microcombs based on nonlinear microresonators have been examined, exhibiting remarkable precision approaching that of laser frequency combs, on a solid-state chip-scale platform and from a fundamentally different physical origin. Despite recent successes, to date, the real-time dynamical origins and high-power stabilities of such frequency microcombs have not been fully addressed. Here, we unravel the transitional dynamics of frequency microcombs from chaotic background routes to femtosecond mode-locking in real time, enabled by our ultrafast temporal magnifier metrology and improved stability of dispersion-managed dissipative solitons. Through our dispersion-managed oscillator, we further report a stability zone that is more than an order-of-magnitude larger than its prior static homogeneous counterparts, providing a novel platform for understanding ultrafast dissipative dynamics and offering a new path towards high-power frequency microcombs.