A method for producing a hole in a polymer film includes the steps of depositing a conductive layer onto the polymer film and irradiating a spot on the layer with a burst of focused laser energy at a level sufficient to form an opening in the film and, subsequently, plasma etching the film so as to form a hole of desired depth in the polymer film underlying the opening in the conductive layer. This method is particularly applicable to the formation of multichip intergrated circuit packages in which a plurality of chips formed in a semiconductor wafer are coated with a polymer film covering the chips and the substrates. The holes are provided for the purpose of interconnecting selected chip contact pads via a deposited conductive layer which overlies the film and fills the holes.