  We investigate numerically the role of spatial arrangement of the patches on
the irreversible adsorption of patchy colloids on a substrate. We consider
spherical three-patch colloids and study the dependence of the kinetics on the
opening angle between patches. We show that growth is suppressed below and
above minimum and maximum opening angles, revealing two absorbing phase
transitions between thick and thin film regimes. While the transition at the
minimum angle is continuous, in the Directed Percolation class, that at the
maximum angle is clearly discontinuous. For intermediate values of the opening
angle, a rough colloidal network in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class
grows indefinitely. The nature of the transitions was analyzed in detail by
considering bond flexibility, defined as the dispersion of the angle between
the bond and the center of the patch. For the range of flexibilities considered
we always observe two phase transitions. However, the range of opening angles
where growth is sustained increases with flexibility. At a tricritical
flexibility, the discontinuous transition becomes continuous. The practical
implications of our findings and the relation to other nonequilibrium
transitions are discussed.
