one illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming a structure above a semiconductor substrate , performing a conformal deposition process to form a layer of undoped spacer material above the structure , performing an angled ion implant process to form a region of doped spacer material in the layer of undoped spacer material while leaving other portions of the layer of undoped spacer material undoped , and , after performing the angled ion implant process , performing at least one etching process that removes the undoped portions of the layer of undoped spacer material and thereby results in a sidewall spacer comprised of the doped spacer material positioned adjacent at least one side , but not all sides , of the structure .