The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing sidewall spacers on a memory device. The method comprises forming sidewall spacers on a memory device having a memory array region and at least one peripheral circuit region by forming a first sidewall spacer adjacent to a word line in the memory array region and a second sidewall spacer adjacent to a transistor in the peripheral circuit region. The first sidewall spacer has a first thickness and the second sidewall spacer has a second thickness, wherein the second thickness is greater than the first thickness.