Yes, Galena detectors (Cat's Wiskers) are semiconductor diodes made with a small tip (usually platinum) driven over a semiconductor crystal of lead sulfide.
They allow the HF carrier current to be rectified.
Many diodes that are still found in many electronic devices are made in the same way: a small glass tube about a centimeter long, and if you look with a magnifying glass, you sees a small platinum wire placed on a germanium or silicon crystal. The construction is done as for galena detectors: we walk the platinum wire on the crystal, sending an HF voltage, and suddenly, we observe a rectified current. At this moment, a current pulse is passed which welds the platinum point in the right place. So the shock and vibration cannot destroy the diode. Oddly enough, this strong impulse does not destroy the junction. This work used to be done by female workers, but I guess it's automated now.
I do not know if the experiment has been done, but it is undoubtedly possible to make a transistor with a crystal of galena. Here is the experimental protocol that I propose: You must first form a diode by running a platinum wire on the galena. As soon as the semiconductor junction is established, seal the first junction with a microliter drop of epoxy, and then, with a second spike, look for another "hot spot" as close as possible to the first tip. I'm willing to bet that a current injected into one of the tips modulates the current flowing between the crystal and the second. Of course, this experiment would only be of historical interest, without any industrial application, in our time when it is possible to integrate a billion transistors on a silicon chip. But in the heroic days of Edison’s, Tesla and Branly, that would have changed the game. It’s a fun experience for high school kids or for a "fablab". (Amateur Maker Lab)