Atom chips are an apparatus where isolated cold atoms are trapped microns above the chip surface, creating a solid state device with long coherence times. This work is focused on extending these coherence times so that the atom chip may offer new experimental insight into foundations of quantum mechanics (e.g. interferometry and decoherence) as well as serve as a base for quantum technology including clocks, sensors and quantum information processing and communications. We analyze atom-surface magnetic interaction on atom chips where the magnetic trapping potentials are produced by current carrying wires made of electrically anisotropic materials. We present a theory for time dependent fluctuations of the magnetic potential, arising from thermal noise originating from the surface. It is shown that using materials with large electrical anisotropy results in a considerable reduction of decoherence rate of ultra-cold atoms trapped near the surface, of up to several orders of magnitude, also at room temperature. Materials, fabrication and experimental issues are discussed, and specific candidate materials are suggested.