I use Octave, but Matlab has the same syntax.
Create 3d matrix:
octave:3> m = ones(2,3,2)
m =
ans(:,:,1) =
1 1 1
1 1 1
ans(:,:,2) =
1 1 1
1 1 1
Now, say I have a 2D matrix that I want to expand in a new dimension:
octave:4> Two_D = ones(2,3)
Two_D =
1 1 1
1 1 1
I can expand it by creating a 3D matrix, setting the first 2D in it to my old (here I have size two of the third dimension):
octave:11> Three_D = zeros(2,3,2)
Three_D =
ans(:,:,1) =
0 0 0
0 0 0
ans(:,:,2) =
0 0 0
0 0 0
octave:12> Three_D(:,:,1) = Two_D
Three_D =
ans(:,:,1) =
1 1 1
1 1 1
ans(:,:,2) =
0 0 0
0 0 0