This paper proposes a new drilling technique for removing polymeric layers on a conductive layer using laser light with a wavelength of 1047 nm at which the polymeric layer is transparent. We investigated the mechanism of this process by luminescence spectroscopy of the laser-irradiated samples. We observed sharp peaks with a single laser irradiation of 8.6 J/cm(2), and the intense peaks could not be seen when the irradiated pulse energy decreased to 1.2 J/cm(2). The polymeric film was thus removed without decomposition of the polymer into atoms. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.