Energy dissipation channels in the adsorption of N on Ag(1Â 1Â 1)

► Energy dissipation channels for N adsorption on Ag(1 1 1) surfaces. ► Phonon excitations and electron-hole pair excitations. ► Adsorption probability is mainly determined by phonon excitations. ► Electronic excitations play a major role in the full dynamics. ► Combination of both energy dissipation channels is necessary.