In this paper, we present an innovative tilt-structure design concept for (Sb, Bi)(2)Te-3 nanowire array assembled by high-quality nanowires with well oriented growth, utilizing a simple vacuum thermal evaporation technique. The unusual tilt-structure (Sb, Bi)(2)Te-3 nanowire array with a tilted angle of 45 degrees exhibits a high thermoelectric dimensionless figure-of-merit ZT = 1.72 at room temperature. The relatively high ZT value in contrast to that of previously reported (Sb, Bi)(2)Te-3 materials and the vertical (Sb, Bi)(2)Te-3 nanowire arrays evidently reveals the crucial role of the unique tilt-structure in favorably influencing carrier and phonon transport properties, resulting in a significantly improved ZT value. The transport mechanism of such tilt-structure is proposed and investigated. This method opens a new approach to optimize nano-structure in thin films for next-generation thermoelectric materials and devices. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.