  We show that the performance and functionality of atom-chips can be
transformed by using graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures to overcome
present limitations on the lifetime of the trapped atom cloud and on its
proximity to the chip surface. Our analysis involves Green-function
calculations of the thermal (Johnson) noise and Casimir-Polder atom-surface
attraction produced by the atom-chip. This enables us to determine the lifetime
limitations produced by spin-flip, tunneling and three-body collisional losses.
Compared with atom-chips that use thick metallic conductors and substrates,
atom-chip structures based on two-dimensional materials reduce the minimum
attainable atom-surface separation to a few 100 nm and increase the lifetimes
of the trapped atom clouds by orders of magnitude so that they are limited only
by the quality of the background vacuum. We predict that atom-chips with
two-dimensional conductors will also reduce spatial fluctuations in the
trapping potential originating from imperfections in the conductor patterns.
These advantages will enhance the performance of atom-chips for quantum sensing
applications and for fundamental studies of complex quantum systems.
