A semiconductor device includes a plurality of pillars formed from a conductive material. The pillars are formed by using a plurality of nanocrystals as a hardmask for patterning the conductive material. A thickness of the conductive material determines the height of the pillars. Likewise, a width of the pillar is determined by the diameter of a nanocrystal. In one embodiment, the pillars are formed from polysilicon and function as the charge storage region of a non-volatile memory cell having good charge retention and low voltage operation. In another embodiment, the pillars are formed from a metal and function as a plate electrode for a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor having an increased capacitance without increasing the surface area of an integrated circuit.