In order to solve the problem that the vacuum pump motor rotor is difficult to dissipate heat in a vacuum environment, it is necessary to strictly control the temperature rise of the vacuum pump motor to improve the stability of the system operation. The rotor of switched reluctance motor (SRM) has no windings, the rotor loss is small, and the overall temperature rise is low, which is of great significance to improve the performance of the drive motor for vacuum pumps. On the basis of the traditional SRM, a transverse flux SRM for vacuum pumps is designed. Due to the large space of stator winding, it is conducive to the heat dissipation of the motor, and further reduces the loss of the stator, thereby reducing the overall temperature rise of the motor. Finally, the temperature field, thermal stress and thermal deformation of the bearing of the induction motor, radial SRM and transverse flux SRM with the same power and volume are compared and analyzed. The results show that the temperature rise, thermal stress and thermal deformation of the bearing of the transverse flux SRM are minimum, which indicates the feasibility of the transverse flux SRM as the driving motor for vacuum pump.