The optical gain and spontaneous emission characteristics of low In-content AlInN-delta-GaN quantum wells (QWs) are analyzed for deep ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers. Our analysis shows a large increase in the dominant transverse electric (TE) polarized spontaneous emission rate and optical gain. The remarkable enhancements in TE-polarized optical gain and spontaneous emission characteristics are attributed to the dominant conduction (C)-heavy hole (HH) transitions achieved by the AlInN-delta-GaN QW structure, which could lead to its potential application as the active region material for high performance deep UV emitters. In addition, our findings show that further optimizations of the delta-GaN layer in the active region are required to realize the high performance AlInN-based LEDs and lasers with the desired emission wavelength. This work illuminates the high potential of the low In-content AlInN-delta-GaN QW structure to achieve large dominant TE-polarized spontaneous emission rates and optical gains for high performance AlN-based UV devices.