A non-volatile memory cell includes a program transistor and a control capacitor. A portion of a substrate associated with the program transistor is exposed to multiple implantations (such as DNW, HiNWell, HiPWell, and P-well implantations). Similarly, a portion of the substrate associated with the control capacitor is exposed to multiple implantations (such as DNW, HiNWell, HiPWell, P-well, and N-well implantations). These portions of the substrate may have faster oxidation rates than other portions of the substrate, allowing a thicker front-end gate oxide to be formed over these portions of the substrate. In addition, a rapid thermal process anneal can be performed, which may reduce defects in the front-end gate oxide and increase its quality without having much impact on the oxide over the other portions of the substrate.